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Published: November 2nd 2008
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An arty Buddha shot
This shot was taken at the cave of 1000 Buddhas The journey to Luang Prabang was long (7 hours with a brief stop for food and comfort - Gary having particular success using the squat toilet without mishap - a proud moment!)) and windy, but had some of the most spectacular scenery of the trip so far. Arriving early evening we had enough time to wash up and wander through the night market before dinner. Luang Prabang has one of the nicest and hassle free markets we have been to in Asia. Lots of stalls full of scarves, bags, jewellry and embroidered linen. We unfortunately did not make the most of it and stocking up on Christmas presents, that will have to wait until India - and WE WILL REGRET IT! Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos and as such has lots of temples and an old Palace (now converted to a museum as they got rid of the monarchy sometime ago). An interesting aspect was the various gifts donated by other countries to Laos. These were shown in a very ornate room in the museum. All gifts were good but our favourite was from the USA ( President Nixon) who donated a plastic Airfix model of the Apollo
Lunar Landing craft from the 1969 moon landings. This seems pretty lame in the respect that it was at the same time the US were bombing Laos as a side issue to the Vietnam war.
Overall Luang Prabang is a pretty town sandwiched between 2 rivers. It has lots of cafes, restaurants and even a wine bar where we ended up to have a decent bottle (or 2!) before turning in. Again the town seems to shut down at around 10pm - definitely a chilling out place.
Next day we had a walking tour around the city taking in local delights such as the morning market (all sorts of fruit, veg and dead animals for sale) We also visited one of the temples and were blessed by a 92 year old monk (who looked remarkably good for his age). In the afternoon we took a jumbo (a large tuk-tuk not elephant) to a 3 layered waterfall 25km out of town. We jumped and swam in the chilling water and got battered on the rocks. Great fun. Also at the falls we visited a bear sanctuary for Asiatic Black bears "Moon Bears", that have been mistreated. Apparently their bile is used
for medicinal purposes.
In the evening we ventured out for a meal on our own. Very nice local restaurant. Dried river moss is a traditional dish in Laos but was difficult to find, fortunately. We attempted seaweed crackers instead, which were OK - tasted like leafy paper, but we had the most delicious dessert. Bananas in coconut milk with melted caramel - scrummy! (Carolyn's word not Gary's)
Next day was a free day that we spent exploring the town. A long (hot and sweaty) walk along the Mekong river, visiting a couple more temples and got involved in a Thai movie!. Well when we say we got involved, it was more of "Oi you two, get away from the camera".
Late in the afternoon we climbed the 300+ steps of Mount Phousi to visit the temple and to get brilliant views of the city and rivers. The evening culminated in a lovely meal in a BBQ restaurant by the river where Gary had the best fish soup ever!
Next day we were leaving by boat to Pak Beng as part of the long haul to Thailand. We woke up at 5.30 am to walk down to the main road to
give alms to the monks that live in the city. We dressed appropriately and bought our sticky rice and waited patiently for the monks. After the early morning drum chorus the 100+ monks and novices walked serenely along the street receiving offerings from the local people (and us). It was an amazing sight to behold and to be part of. After breakfast we walked down to the river to board our slow boat to Pak Beng.
We were to spend the next 2 days on the river moving slowly along among the beautiful scenery. Lots of books were read and games of pass the pig played. A very relaxing time. The only stop we made was at the cave of 1000 Buddhas where surprisingly there was a lot of Buddhas. We arrived at Pak Beng in the evening. Our boat was moored to 3 others out in the river. We had to climb through 2 boats and negotiate a homemade bridge / plank that was only 6 inches wide in the dark with all our backpacks. How anyone didn't fall in is a miracle! Our guest house was delightful but only had electricity from 6.30 to 10 in the morning
and again at the same time in the evening. An interesting night. No air con, no TV and Gary's pillow was as hard as a bag of cement. It was like camping in the US all over again.
After the 2nd day of meandering down the river we arrived in the border town of Hua Xia. A slightly larger town than Pak Beng and complete with facilities (Electricity, Internet and Beer Lao.) This was a stopover place for us to cross into Thailand the next day. In the morning we walked to the immigration building located on the riverside to get our passports stamped. We then clambered onto little motorised boats to travel across the river to Thailand, which took 2 minutes. An unusual border crossing but pretty uneventful. Once we were all safely across into Thailand we hopped onto a bus for our final destination of this trip Chiang Mai. We made one stop, for lunch, at the Condom and Cabbages restaurant which promotes HIV awareness and the need for contraception. We know how the condom works but the cabbage has got to hurt!! The condom bikini was particularly attractive but unfortunately they did not have Gary's size!
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